News from Gun Free Australia

[GojuBrian]

As usual criminals, as always, have no problems getting guns. It's only the law abiding who are prevented from protecting themselves. I'm always amazed how little people from places like the UK, Aus, and others know about their own crime rates, and act like they know anything about ours...From "gun free" Australia:


Guns hold Sydney hostage

The Daily Telegraph October 05, 2009 12:00AM


Sydney shootings ... getting worse. Source: The Daily Telegraph

GUN violence is so out of control there are three shootings a week in Sydney and neighbourhoods are living in fear.

The city's shooting capital is Fairfield, with 34 shootings and drive-bys in just two years to the end of June.

Exclusive statistics from the Bureau of Crime Statistics show there were 157 drive-by and illegal shootings between July 2008 and the end of June, up from 129 the year before.

Police investigated 29 shootings in the Blacktown local government area, 25 in Bankstown, 24 in Auburn and 20 in Liverpool. There were even 11 shootings in the heart of the city.

Opposition police spokesman Mike Gallacher said NSW was awash with handguns, which were being imported from overseas and then traded on Sydney streets.

"Criminals are getting their hands on illegally imported firearms," he said last night.

A frightening array of guns have been seized in the past month, including a .357 Magnum handgun and a .22 shortened rifle with silencer.

In one raid on September 9, police officers managed to seize five Colt M16 assault rifles, three Colt AR15 assault rifles, three 9mm assault rifles, a tactical assault rifle and seven 9mm handguns at Rosebery.

The last shooting victim was a 34-year-old Auburn man wounded in the shoulder six days ago in Sydney.

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research chief Don Weatherburn blamed the spike in shootings on a sudden rise in bikie-related drive-bys towards the end of late last year.

He added that the number of shootings had since stabilised.

The latest drive-by shooting was just two weeks ago at Smithfield, with a family at home when their house was shot at.

Truck driver Bob Knight was an innocent victim caught in the crossfire in June when shot dead by a stray bullet from a gunfight that took place in Milperra.

"I actually feel sorry for people that live in Sydney, people that lived near it wrote to us saying `It could have been my house'," Mr Knight's son David said yesterday.

"I like to hope if something comes out of this for Dad that the Government or the police actually realise what is going on."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/g ... 5782701247

 

[GojuBrian]

Here's a touch of reality you probably won't hear from the Brady Bunch or VPC:

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_02/html/web ... der03.html

This page is for the stats from 1998 to 2002. I've seen another page on the FBI's site for 2002 to 2008 but don't remember the link at the moment. A little Google fu should turn those years up shortly.

The point of said link follows; take 1998 for example when 546 people were murdered with a rifle of any type and 626 were murdered with a shotgun rifle of any type. (I stress "of any type" because that's not just evil black rifles, it's rifles of any type, to include old school bolt action rifles and such).

In contrast, 1890 people were killed with a knife or other cutting instrument in 1998, 750 were killed with a blunt object, and 959 were beaten to death using no weapon at all.

Hmmm, as dumb as it still would be, it'd actually be less dumb to argue that we should ban "assault knives", "assault objects", or "assault fists" then it is to argue we should ban evil black rifles.

**Note** I used 1998 because it was the first year that came up, but 1999 to 2002 showed around the same numbers. We really need to be bringing these numbers up every single time any dummy starts spouting off about banning "assault rifles". Beat them over the head with the stats, oops, sorry, don't want to add another number to the 750 killed with a blunt object ...

 

[Caroline H]

I'm always amazed how little people from places like the UK, Aus, and others know about their own crime rates, and act like they know anything about ours...

Brian, I'd like to frame this quote

 

[jasoncran]

good story brian, god bless the second amendment. of course you know will argue the counter points here.
poor nick, never will be able to expercience the fun of shooting a weapon on a range.
jason

 

[Nick]

poor nick, never will be able to expercience the fun of shooting a weapon on a range.
jason

I agree - I would like to take up shooting as a sport, but it's not ver possible here.


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As for general gun ownership in society - well it just doesn't work.


The article mentioned lots of drive-by shootings and people getting hit by stray bullets - a gun's not gonna protect you from those, and that's how most of the murders are happening. Also note that the article said most of the guns are being brought in from overseas, so it is obviously hard to get them here. Our laws aren't the problem - it's the authorities who control the borders that need to pick up their game.


And I enjoy my living in peace, not fear, thank-you very much.



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Also wanted to point out that the newspaper you got that article from leans heavily to the right and is a tabloid, so it can be quite biased, especially on these issues.

 

[jasoncran]

poor nick, never will be able to expercience the fun of shooting a weapon on a range.
jason

I agree - I would like to take up shooting as a sport, but it's not ver possible here.


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As for general gun ownership in society - well it just doesn't work.


The article mentioned lots of drive-by shootings and people getting hit by stray bullets - a gun's not gonna protect you from those, and that's how most of the murders are happening. Also note that the article said most of the guns are being brought in from overseas, so it is obviously hard to get them here. Our laws aren't the problem - it's the authorities who control the borders that need to pick up their game.


And I enjoy my living in peace, not fear, thank-you very much.
no one means of protection is 100% effective in every single situation,

my response to you nick
you wear seatbelts correct, there's a rare chance in panel vans that during a rollover and subsquent fire that the driver will try to relase the belt(truck is still upside down for this point) and hit his head and dies from the neck being broken,or being unconsious and is burned alive. should we ban seatbelts.

we do have drive by's as well. here in america.
jason

 

[Caroline H]

Jason, did you mean to say something there?

 

[jasoncran]

nick, your country isnot going such a hard time with the funding things that prisoner are being released when they arent ready, cops laid off.

then prisons in the us generally dont rehab only cage, and with the budget constraints and sometimes the early releases by soft judges. the have even closed prisons in minniesota moved them to others (inmates) to other already over crowded prisons.

this is would get into how shall the us deal with crime here if i went on, but i'm glad we have guns, are country teaches generally in society that you do what you want as long you dont hurt others, ie moral relativism. our schools call the ten commandments evil, we cannot use corporal punishments, the kids these days have "rights" then the parents. i'm all for punishment of abusive parents, but sometimes a child needs the board of education applied to the seat of knowledge!

the other day when i was driving down the road, the kids from one house were playing bball and refused to move over, they scoffed at me, yelled at me. this is the society we now have,nick, when i was kid if i did that i would be spanked or grounded.

back to topic:
that's why i would love to own a weapon! cops take a while to respond when seconds count. i dont have all the answers to the above only a few.

jason

 

[Free]

I'm always amazed how little people from places like the UK, Aus, and others know about their own crime rates, and act like they know anything about ours.

And I wonder how many Americans really know their own...

"WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. - A man who thought there was an intruder in his house shot and killed his fiancee the day before they were to be married, police said Friday.

"Right now everything points to a tragic accident," Police Chief Kevin Brunelle told The Associated Press, adding investigators were awaiting forensic results.

John Tabutt, 62, told investigators he got his gun when he thought he heard an intruder, then fired at a figure in the hallway, according to Brunelle. It was Tabutt's live-in fiancee, 62-year-old Nancy Dinsmore, who family members say he was going to marry Saturday. Tabutt told authorities he thought she was next to him in bed the whole time."

http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/msnbc-article.aspx?cp-documentid=22187735

 

[Nick]

Not sure what you're trying to say here Jasonn. Sorry. .


Good post Free.

 

[jasoncran]

Not sure what you're trying to say here Jasonn. Sorry. .


Good post Free.

we have issues because of soceitial problems and budget cuts to the law enforcement, cops in a town south of me (six) have been laid off, not sure if the city will rehire them immediately and raise taxes to keep them.

on free's post that type of happens cause most people that buy(not all) guns arent trained in shoot no shoot scenearios. police make and the military make the same mistakes. when i buy a gun i will familarlize my self with it and having the proper training one could say attach:
a high powered flash light to id the intruder and at the same time blinding that person so that cant see you to shoot, but after asking them to drop their weapon or asking them politely to leave, then decide to shoot or not (if they are truly a threat,not just a fiancee).

not sure if this type of training should be required. as that would be expensive.

 

[GojuBrian]

Why is a tragic accident pointed out a good post? That proves nothing except than man disobeyed a major rule of gun safety, know your target. He is paying dearly and you want to use this man's tragedy as an example of what exactly? Shame on you Free.

I know full well accidents happen with guns, too often. It's a matter of education, not more laws that prevent people from defending themselves like in the my opening post.